In the Blueprints, In the Blood
by WarlordFil
Summary: Stormrave, the Commander of Autobot Sky Patrol, has always been a solitary and defensive individual--but when she's wounded in battle, a young medic stumbles across her darkest secret. Part of the Tempest Cycle. COMPLETE.


In the Blueprints, In the Blood

DISCLAIMER: Transformers are the property of Hasbro/Kenner and all characters save those listed below also belong to Kenner. They are used here out of tribute and no profit is being made from this story.

**Author's Note: **As with much of the "Tempest Cycle" this is an older fanfic—in fact, I think this was my first Transformers fanfic—but I hope it can still find an appreciative audience.

Created by Amy K. Cyrway: Cavalier, Ranger, Frag, Rustedge

Amy K. Cyrway and Dylan P. Blacquiere: Zodiac

Amy K. Cyrway and Stormy: Stormrave and Sky Patrol

Stormy: Macroburst, Tempest

TIMELINE: Takes place in the late 1990's.

**IN THE BLUEPRINTS, IN THE BLOOD**

It was pretty much a case of hate at first sight.

Cavalier's intentions had been completely innocent--to introduce her longtime friend Stormrave, who'd been gone from Cybertron for years training with Sky Patrol, to her new pal Zodiac, who worked as a medic at the Autobot's main base. Since Cavalier was friends with both of them, she'd assumed they'd like each other. She never once considered that the proud, self-controlled and militant Sky Patrol commander might mix with the somewhat goofy, softhearted and emotional medic like oil and water.

The minute Stormrave's silhouette appeared in the med lab doorway, Zodiac's innocent comment was, "Holy frigg, she looks like a friggin' Seeker!" The exclamation was tactlessly loud and quite possibly the worst thing he could have said.

Cavalier knew that Stormrave had always been sensitive about her appearance...and, the white Autobot had to admit, Stormrave did look an awful lot like a feminine Decepticon Seeker that just happened to sport Autobot logos on her wings. She was beginning to wish she'd warned Zodiac to keep his big mouth shut about Stormrave's looks.

Stormrave turned her head towards Zodiac. Cavalier couldn't see Stormer's optics--if she truly had any behind that mirrored visor--but if she did, they'd certainly be glaring daggers at Zodiac right about now.

"I do NOT look like a Seeker!" Stormrave growled.

"Fine," Zodiac replied huffily, already taking offense at her tone. "Ye looks like a friggin' Decepticon. Happy now?"

Stormrave folded her arms. "Well, you look like a "friggin'" Junkion... and you sound like one too!"

"Oh, insults now? Excuse me for livin', Miss Attitude..."

Cavalier stepped between the two of them before they came to blows, trying to recover the situation. "Stormrave, this is my friend Zodiac, our medic."

"Medic? I wouldn't trust him to fix a toaster oven," Stormrave muttered loudly enough for Zodiac to hear.

"And this is Stormrave, the leader of our Sky Patrol."

"Sky Patrol? I hear ye got your silicon asses kicked on Vector-Seven last week, ye bunch of hot-shot sky jockeys..."

"You shut up about Vector-Seven," Stormrave hissed. "I had to leave four good Autobots behind there!"

Zodiac's jaw dropped. "What?" he mouthed.

"Zodiac," Cavalier whispered, praying the tenderhearted medic would understand. "Four Autobots got separated from the main body of the troops. The Decepticons were blitzing the shuttle and Stormrave had to order it to take off and leave the stragglers behind."

"That's the friggin' worst thing I've ever heard!" Zodiac exploded, glaring at the Sky Patrol commander, flinging his arms wide in fury. Cavalier ducked as the medic's wrench broke free from its owner's grip and went sailing across the room. "They was your friends, and ye just left 'em there?"

"If we'd stayed we would have all been killed," Stormrave replied flatly.

"Yeah, but at least you'd have done something rather than running out on your friends like a coward," he muttered, taking a step closer and sneering at her.

The optics behind the visor flared with angry light. "I don't see anything noble about asking my soldiers to give up their lives for a lost cause."

"Okay, okay, BREAK IT UP!" Cavalier physically pushed her two companions apart. "This was a bad idea and I already regret it. Zodiac, you dropped your wrench."

The medic grumbled and walked across the room to retrieve it.

"Stormer, let's go," Cavalier continued, seizing her friend by the upper arm and dragging her out of the room. "I think Zodiac has some work to do."

Stormrave followed, seemingly quiet, but shot a glance back at Zodiac before leaving. The navy medic was certain that, had he been able to see an expression behind Stormrave's visor, it would have been a very dirty look.

***

"Dammit, Stormer, I don't know why you had to take him so personally," Cavalier said as they walked down the hall side-by-side.

"I know he's your friend, so I'm sorry for saying it, but in my opinion, the guy's a total jerk," Stormrave answered.

"He's a pacifist, and a bit of an idealist. He doesn't understand all of the harsher realities of combat."

"He wasn't there on Vector-Seven. He should keep his mouth shut. He probably spends all his time in the med lab hiding from the real war." She threw open the door of Sky Patrol's lounge, walked in, and leaned back against the counter against the right hand wall. The red jet robot picked up a can of oil and liberally dumped it into the joints of her left hand. "Who does he think he is, telling me how to fight when he doesn't know a thing about combat?" she muttered.

Cavalier sighed. It was no use trying to talk to Stormrave in the state she was in--and she suspected that the Sky Patrol commander was still upset over the choice she'd had to make on Vector-Seven. "You could do with some time in the med lab yourself, Stormer," she said, trying to change the subject. She surveyed the dents in her friend's frame, the crack in the material that made up the cockpit canopy of her jet form, the stiffness in Stormrave's joints. "No offense, but you look like shit."

"I'm fine." The red robot still sounded sullen.

She didn't look fine. Stormrave began idly playing with a bolt on the counter and it was only as Cavalier watched that she realized just how badly seized up Stormrave was. The jet Transformer could hardly keep ahold of the bolt. Her left hand couldn't even close all the way any more... After almost dropping the little metal piece several times, with only her quick reflexes preventing it from dropping, she finally snarled and pitched it across the room as if she'd gotten bored of the game.

"Stormer, seriously, you look like crap."

A half-smile. Cavalier's body frame was immaculately polished as always. "Maybe I do, next to a flashy set of wheels like yourself..."

"No, Stormer, really. How long has it been since you went for a checkup?"

Stormrave's head turned away. "My last one was with Macroburst."

"What? Stormer, Macroburst died years ago..."

"Yeah."

"And you haven't been to a medic in all that time? Geez! No wonder you look like...say...what about the mandatory checkups?"

She shrugged.

It was all becoming clear to Cavalier. "You didn't GO? Slag, Stormer! You might not even be in fighting condition any more!"

"I'm in fighting condition. Vector-Seven proved it."

Cavalier sighed. "Stormer...seriously...I'm only worried about your welfare."

"I hate the med lab," Stormrave said distantly.

"A phobia? Stormer, lots of Autobots have them...there's no reason to be afraid. Our medics here are just as good as Macroburst was..."

"Macro was from my home world," the red robot whispered. "He was Kilair's only medic to survive the blitz attack."

Cavalier was just about to ask what that had to do with anything when suddenly the screams of sirens rent the air and red warning lights lit the room with a fiery glow like some sort of satanic disco. "All stations! All stations! Report to War Room for immediate conference!"

***

By the time Stormrave and Cavalier dashed through the War Room door, Rodimus Prime had already begun to speak. "...facing heavy fire. Multiple casualties. We need reserves on planet and we need them now."

"Why don't you send reserves from some of the nearer bases?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Why all the way from Cybertron? We can't get to the Gamma Quadrant from here in less than an hour..."

"Negative. The nearer bases are under attack as well. They're holding their own, but this was obviously a coordinated effort. We need backup and we need it now. Ground troops: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Hound, Blue Streak, Mirage, Trailbreaker, Warpath. Aerial troops: Sky Patrol. I want Zodiac along for field repairs on the survivors and assistance from the Protectobots guarding our main base on planet. Any questions?"

There were none.

***

Stormrave managed to avoid Zodiac on the shuttle. She figured that as soon as they got on planet, she'd be able to avoid him...but no such luck. A medic was required at the field station right behind the Autobot front lines, and Zodiac had volunteered. He had glared at her defiantly as he raised his hand, seeming to taunt her, his eyes saying, "You said I didn't know anything about combat; well, I'll show you."

~Great. Just what I need,~ Stormrave thought. ~As if leading Sky Patrol's not enough, now I've got to make sure Guppybot doesn't get his exhaust pipe shot off!~

She wondered why she even bothered worrying about him. He was practically a civilian, and if he didn't know better than to go to the front lines, then surely he deserved whatever was coming to him. Nevertheless, she worried anyway...a typically Autobot response.

But once Sky Patrol got out on those front lines into the thick of the fighting, Stormrave's worry over keeping Zodiac alive faded, replaced by a primary concern of keeping herself and her team alive.

The Decepticon fire was intense. This push was a big one, all right--it was as if every Decepticon in the galaxy was here on Gamma-Q, firing their guns. Stormrave's Sky Patrol did an admirable job of providing cover for the Autobots on the ground, but the sheer number of Decepticons was overwhelming.

"Retreat!" Warpath ordered reluctantly.

"Negative," came the voice of Kismet, the only other female member of Sky Patrol besides Stormrave. "The 'Cons are behind us too! Their position is about five kliks north..."

"They must've broken through the lines on the left and right," Trailbreaker muttered, "and encircled us."

"So what do we do?" Sunstreaker asked, suddenly looking worried about something more than his paint job.

"Withdraw to the medic station," Warpath replied, "two kliks north, and wait for the shuttle I've ordered to extract us. Sky Patrol, keep us covered!"

"Roger," Stormrave replied. "We'll cover your retreat. Go!"

***

And so, the Autobot troops took up station in the medical compound, determined to hold it until the shuttle could arrive. As Zodiac shouldered his gun uncomfortably and waited for a sign of advancing Decepticons, Stormrave led the other six members of Sky Patrol in a defensive orbit around the area.

"The 'Con's are taking their sweet time," Sunflare muttered.

"Don't complain," Stormrave replied. "I want to get out of here as soon as we can, but first, we have to see the shuttle off. If the 'Cons hold off until it's airborne, so much the better."

"Where is that slaggin' shuttle anyway?" Longshock grumbled. "Any money the Decepticreeps already intercepted it and blew it up, and now they're coming here to finish us off too."

"Do you HAVE to be so cheery?" Firestreak retorted sarcastically.

"There it is!" Starbolt cried. "Two o' clock high!"

"Keep your optics peeled on the surrounding area," Stormrave ordered. "We don't need to watch the shuttle. We need to watch for attacks."

The shuttle landed uneventfully. Every once in a while each Sky Patroller would take a peek down at the Autobots below boarding the spaceship in preparation for retreat. Stormrave rocked her wings impatiently, trying to ignore the cold sensations in her control lines. It seemed like forever before she heard Blue Streak's voice: "We're all aboard, Sky Patrol. Come on down and let's get out of here."

Gratefully, the six members of Sky Patrol: orange and red Firestreak, light blue Starbolt, green and purple Longshock, golden Kismet, yellow and orange Sunflare, and red Stormrave glided down and transformed to board. And that's when the Decepticons attacked.

Inside, Stormrave cursed herself for her negligence. She should have kept her monitors focused outwards, on the surrounding area, rather than inwards on the shuttle. She resolved to chastise herself later, when the battle was won.

"Let 'em have it!" Starbolt was yelling, and his hot-tempered "brother," Firestreak, was right behind him with both guns blasting.

"No!" Stormrave ordered. "Retreat! Sky Patrol, withdraw! Get on the shuttle. I'll cover you. GO!"

Their weapons blazing, Sky Patrol slowly backed towards the ramp leading into the shuttle. Stormrave transformed back into her jet mode, giving them air cover...

...and from her position above the shuttle, she could see the Constructicons merging into Devastator. The massive gestalt robot raised a gigantic bazooka, ready to send a missile tearing into the shuttle's primary engine--a missile that would at best disable the shuttle and at worst, blow it up along with everyone inside it.

Stormrave whirled in the sky, hammering the Decepticon with her laser blasts. Angry, Devastator raised the bazooka away from the shuttle, towards the Autobot Sky Patrol Commander, and fired.

The weapon was too large to be practical against a target as small as Stormrave. She easily dodged the huge missile. The projectile detonated high, sending a light rain of shrapnel down on the shuttle. It was mostly unscathed and powered up its engines, moving slowly away from the planet's surface.

The shrapnel, however, was much heavier nearer to the missile's detonation point. While Stormrave had no problems avoiding the projectile itself, the hail of shrapnel was a different matter. Small pieces peppered her metal skin; larger pieces tore deep into her insides.

Below her, Devastator was powering up for another shot.

"Sky Patrol, get out of here!" Stormrave barked into her radio.

"What about you?" Starbolt replied.

"I'll look after myself! Now go!" She rocked, struggling to stay in the sky. She directed a few blasts towards the Decepticons, harassing them so they couldn't aim accurately at the shuttle. Her circuits chilled as she realized that she was unable to maintain her altitude.

"Are ye hurt?" came a new voice over the channel. Stormrave sighed wearily. Zodiac, making trouble again.

"That laser blast didn't exactly tickle but I ain't dead yet," she snapped back. Pain screamed through her brain, and her body failed to respond as it should. She turned so that she was heading away from the Decepticons...and the shuttle.

"Ye will be, if the Decepticons get ye!" Zodiac protested.

"They'll get YOU if you don't get out of here!" In the background, she could hear Firestreak urging Longshock to exit the planet's atmosphere, while Zodiac argued that they couldn't leave Stormrave behind--and worse, Kismet and Starbolt seemed to be agreeing with him.

"Sky Patrol, get out of here! That's a DIRECT ORDER!"

Seconds later, Stormrave saw the tiny shape of the shuttle rising from the planet's surface. Suddenly weak, her engines gave out and she glided in to a rough but satisfactory landing.

Wearily, she transformed and raised her head to watch the small bolt of light that was the shuttle disappear into the sky.

~Alone. Injured. In Decepticon territory.~

But there were still a lot of photon charges in her gun, and after that gave out, her smaller hand laser was fully powered. Her mouth set grimly. She could take a lot of them down before they got her.

The wind howled around the rocks, making a low moan that would mask any quiet sounds. Gritting her jaw, she took out a small first aid kit and began to sauter her injuries as best she could.

***

~Ye's nuts, Zodiac, me son. Ye's absolutely and one hundred percent friggin' nuts.~

The Decepticon raiders were now just a handful of dots on the western horizon. It was unlikely they'd be monitoring the Autobot compound any longer, and even if they were, they wouldn't bother coming back for a single robot.

He hoped.

Zodiac got up from his crouched position and darted out of the now-deserted base towards the hills where he'd seen Stormrave fall.

~Friggin' hot-roddin' sky jockey...~

But she'd been willing to die to protect them. Odds were she was still alive.

And Zodiac, who revered all life, couldn't leave an injured Autobot behind...not even one as obnoxious as the Sky Patrol Commander.

***

~End of the line.~

Stormrave sagged against a rock, feeling her core processor glitch and spark when she realized how severe her wounds were. She struggled to remain conscious, tightening her grip around her laser pistol.

Her auditory senses picked up a noise. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it seemed to be footsteps, heading her way.

A quick glance at her weapon's power bar told her that it was fully charged.

She'd go out fighting...

***

"Stormrave?" Zodiac called tentatively, picking his way among the rocks. "Stormer?" He could see nothing but tawny outcroppings and sand, and he realized with frustration that if the red female had fallen unconscious, he could walk right past her and never know. The stone formations hid so much from view...

"Frigg, she's got to be around here somewhere," Zodiac muttered, suddenly worried he'd wandered off course. Lost in thought, he stumbled on a rock and crashed to his knees. The bang echoed off the surrounding landscape.

"Ow," he muttered as he picked himself up, rubbing his knee joints. "All this work for an ungrateful little..."

And suddenly, he was looking down the barrel of a laser cannon held by a winged silhouette, and a voice was growling, "Goodbye, Decepti..."

His hands raised and he couldn't help the sheepish expression on his face, which would surely afford his killers a good laugh once they'd shot him.

The gun barrel lowered. "Zodiac, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Stormrave?"

Stormrave it was, and as he got to his feet he noticed that the female was leaning heavily on a rock wall behind her. Her left leg was badly damaged; some of the wiring was still visible despite the crude metal patch that Stormrave had sautered overtop of it. Her face was drawn in pain.

"Frigg, Stormer, ye looks awful..."

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically. "Did you stay on this planet just to insult me, or do you have a death wish?"

"What?"

"I told you to get out of here!"

"And what about you?"

"I can look after myself! Listen, genius, I can transform and fly home, but none of your three forms, Mr. Triple-Changer, are capable of space flight. Since you missed the shuttle, you're stuck."

"You, transform? Yeah, right. Not like that, ye can't. Ye's as stuck as I am, me girl."

Stormrave suddenly seemed to lose her fire, sagging against the stone and looking oddly lost and frightened.

"What were ye thinkin'?" Zodiac continued. "My Primus, you could die out here alone!"

"I figured maybe I could fix it," Stormrave muttered.

"Fix it, hell," Zodiac retorted, getting down on one knee to examine the damage. Stormrave shrank back but seemed too tired to protest. "I doesn't think even I can fix it out here. Ye's gonna have a nice long stay in the med lab when we get back to Cybertron."

"No!" Stormrave snapped automatically.

"Are ye friggin' kiddin' me? Ye can't go walkin' around like that! Ye gets rust in there an' ye could lose yer leg, 'er worse!" Zodiac frowned. "Can ye even walk on that?"

"Yeah." She hopped forward a foot, using her rifle as a crutch, cursing under her breath every time she winced in pain or the bad leg threatened to give out.

"Frigg, no ye can't. Lemme take a look at that. I could probably patch it up better, maybe even give ye some of yer mobility back..."

"No. I'll be fine."

"Dammit, Stormrave, ye are bein' the most pig-headed omadaun I'se ever seen!"

"Don't touch me, Zodiac," Stormrave hissed. "Now let's get moving."

"Moving? Where to?"

"Up there." She pointed towards a wall of rock atop a nearby hill. "You can see all the land for about three miles around, and if any Decepticons come along you've got the high ground advantage. It's a perfect sniper post."

The thought was somewhat cold and cruel for Zodiac's taste, but Stormrave did have a point. "Am I allowed to help ye, at least?"

She darted a glance at him. "Okay," she said, and her voice was soft and almost warm.

At first, she tried to carry most of her own weight, but as they limped towards the summit, the pain forced her to lean more and more on the navy Transformer. Her wound was evidently becoming very uncomfortable; Zodiac could tell that her movements were becoming more and more jerky as they climbed. Finally, near the top, he reached down and, despite her protests, scooped her into his arms and carried her to the most comfortable place behind the rock wall. She flashed him a quick smile as he took a seat beside her.

"Now, let me take a look at that leg," he said gently.

"No." The smile vanished, replaced by a thin-lipped frown.

He was about to say "Suit yourself" when he noticed another patch on Stormrave's left side, halfway between her arm and waist, held there by three rivets. It looked fresh...

"Stormer, what's that?" he asked softly.

She flinched, her expression very frightened now, and covered the wound with not one but both arms. Her motion was not smooth, but choppy...

~Chest wound,~ Zodiac thought. ~By Primus...I'd heard she had a phobia, but nothing like this...she could die!~

~What could possibly make her that scared of repairs?~ But at the moment, he didn't have time to give her psychoanalysis. He had to stabilize her circuitry, and soon, lest she suffer permanent damage.

"Stormer, if ye doesn't let me fix that, ye might die," he said flatly.

"I'll fix it."

"Fix it? Ye can't even reach it! Let me help ye, Stormer. Let me take care of it..."

"You stay away from me," she growled, and he suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of her gun again.

"Okay, okay," Zodiac said in a soothing voice, terrified inside as he backed away from her. "I ain't gonna touch ye. Happy now?"

She looked at him suspiciously, then lowered her gun--though she kept it handy in her lap.

Thinking quickly, he began craning his neck up over the surrounding rocks.

"What is it?" Stormrave asked.

"I thought I heard something."

"Decepticons?" she whispered.

"Maybe. I dunno. It's coming from over there." He pointed at the rock wall directly behind her.

Stormrave twisted around, trying to rise and look over the wall, but a stab of pain dropped her to the ground with a weak cry. She clutched her side. "You'd better take a look," she muttered.

Carefully, Zodiac palmed a tiny metal probe from out of his field first aid kit. He dropped the kit on the ground, drew his weapon, and knelt beside Stormrave. Staying close beside her, he peered over the wall, then quickly dropped to his knees. "Sssh. Stay very still."

"What is it?" she hissed.

Lightning-fast, his left hand found the catch on the panel at the back of her neck and popped it open. Before she could react he thrust the probe inside.

"Damn you!" she screamed, trying to push him away with her left hand and grab for her gun with her right. She could feel her senses growing numb. Her stumbling fingers refused to grasp the gun's handle, and her left arm lacked the energy to have much effect on the navy triplechanger. "Dammit, I told you to leave me alone..."

Her frame weakened; her joints collapsed of their own volition. Through blurring vision she could see the medic standing over her. "Please, Zodiac," she gasped, oddly weak now... "please, leave me be..."

And then she fell unconscious.

***

Zodiac looked down at her, feeling like scum. It hadn't been right, to trick her like that. There was nothing behind the rocks--all he'd needed was an excuse to get close enough to disable her, and being a medic, he knew exactly where to strike.

~I didn't have a choice,~ he thought to himself. ~She'd'a rather shot me than let me give her any help. And I can't let her die, no matter how ungrateful she might be...~

Gently, he laid her on her back, removed the crude patch on her chest wound, and took the power screwdriver out of his first aid kit in order to remove her chestplate. The plate was difficult to remove. It almost seemed as if it were rusted on. ~Probably hasn't had a checkup in years. She likely shot the last medic who tried to do this.~ He smiled wryly, gently removing the plate and laying it on the ground beside her, then turned his attention to Stormrave's inner workings.

The first thing he saw was a network of badly twisted wires, many of them sporting crude homemade repairs. Evidently Stormrave had been in the habit of fixing herself for quite a while, and despite her training as a field medic, she was certainly no surgeon. Zodiac winced; some of the repairs must have been quite painful.

~This must be one hell of a phobia if she'd stay conscious and operate on herself rather than just asking for a little help...~

But the main problem lay deep inside her works, so Zodiac picked his way through the snarl of superficial circuitry into the primary wiring.

Good Lord, what had Stormrave done to herself? Her inner workings were so badly picked apart that they barely looked like Autobot circuitry any more. The wires were crossed in weird, seemingly random fashion...

...no, Zodiac realized, not random. There was an order to her wiring...but it wasn't standard Autobot circuitry. A chill ran down his sensors. ~Frigg...it almost looks like...~

Almost automatically, his head swung to the inside of Stormrave's breastplate to read her serial number.

1037605D2907 SKR-2B

Seeker Model Two B.

Decepticon.

~Holy frigg,~ Zodiac thought as he worked, ~holy frigg.~ No wonder Stormrave never went to the medic's.

He wasn't familiar with Decepticon circuitry. It worked on the same principles as Autobot circuitry, but the impulses traveled slightly different paths. Stormrave's home repairs didn't help either. He wished he had his full med lab and not just his field repair kit, but he could stabilize that chest wound. He figured he ought to be able to get Stormrave's leg able to support her weight at least, and likely fix her transformation function as well...

~Boy, that'd be smart. She'd kill ye, my son, then transform and fly home and tell everyone the Decepticons got ye.~

He shook his head. No. Stormrave might be as pleasant as a sheet of sandpaper in your gears, but she'd never been anything but loyal to the Autobot cause.

Unless she was a spy.

~Ratchet probably woulda left her here like this. Better safe 'n' sorry.~

But he wasn't Ratchet. Regardless of her circuitry, Stormrave was a living being just like he was, and she deserved a chance.

***

Stormrave came to feeling a lot better. The tightness in her chest was gone. She tested her limbs; the left leg was still desperately stiff, but it functioned again.

~Dammit!~ If it worked, then she'd been repaired...and if she'd been repaired, then Zodiac would have seen the wiring inside her and figured out what it meant...

She rose to her knees, looking around for the navy-blue medic, and found him sitting a short distance away, watching her impassively. His weapon lay across his knees, within easy reach, but not in his hands. She was surprised not to find it pointing at her.

"Feeling better?" Zodiac asked softly.

"I told you to leave me alone," she growled.

"If I'd have left ye, ye'd have died here."

"I may die here anyway." She rose to her feet, slowly but with far greater steadiness and precision than before.

"Be careful. I've stabilized ye...ye'd have been dead in a few hours if I hadn't...but too much movement will jar the repairs."

"Now what?" Stormrave asked flatly, but she stopped fidgeting.

"I know what ye didn't want me to see, me girl. Now I wants ye to explain yourself."

She sighed. Her frame sagged; her legs folded and she plopped down on the ground with her back against a rock. Her toughness and aggressiveness seemed to have deserted her. She looked scared, and alone.

"I never lied," she said dully, shaking her head. "Believe what you want, but I never lied."

"What are ye?" Zodiac asked as gently as he could. "Where did ye come from?" Carefully, he walked over and sat beside her, ready for any sign of hostility, but Stormrave simply looked up at him with an expression of sadness before her head fell again.

"What did Cav tell you?"

"She told me ye came from some planet across the galaxy, but I want to hear it again. The whole story."

Stormrave took a deep breath. "The whole story is a lot like what I told Cav. My home planet was called Kilair. I was built there, spent my early years there. We had a thriving colony. We had no contact with other planets and sought none.

"My forerunners were a group of Cybertronians who'd left Cybertron just after the defeat of the Quintessons. When the Autobots and the Decepticons began to fight for control of the home planet, my forerunners wanted no part of it. They didn't care about Cybertron. All they wanted was the freedom to go their own way. Once they had won that freedom from the Quintessons, they took an old Quintesson ship and set out across the galaxy, looking for a small planet with plentiful energy resources, far enough away from Cybertron to avoid the wars raging there. They found one, and named it Kilair.

"For centuries the robots of Kilair lived a relatively peaceful existence. I won't pretend we lived in perfect harmony. There were skirmishes, disagreements...but overall, we got along well with one another and had no contact with any other planets.

"And then one day changed all that.

"You know this story, Zodiac. You know how a squadron of Decepticon raiders came from nowhere and blitzed Kilair, firebombing its cities, killing most of the inhabitants. Tempest, my best friend...Armalite and Chekov, my playmates...my teachers...my leaders...my world. I don't know why. I presume they thought we were Autobots, or Autobot allies. Perhaps they wanted our energy resources. Maybe they were just looking for a weaker people to torment. I don't know.

"We had few weapons and no formal military training. The elderly had forgotten much and the young had never learned. We didn't know how to defend ourselves. Until then, we never had the need."

Her voice grew harsh. "We didn't know why the Decepticons were attacking us. We didn't even know who they were! We were completely ignorant of the Cybertronian wars and wanted no part of them!" She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I guess I should tell you that we wore no sigils. We felt no need to differentiate ourselves from anyone else. We were all one group. We had no contact with any others...until the day Kilair was destroyed.

"The rampaging Decepticons sacked the city, massacred the people, and set up an energon factory that eventually sucked the planet's fuel resources dry. The survivors fled by any means they could. I transformed into my jet form and blasted out into space, screaming headlong through the darkness. I met up with..."

Here she paused, measuring her words, and then continued. "Suffice it to say I met some rather unsavoury characters, but eventually I was reunited with the survivors of Kilair. They'd escaped in shuttles and had been picked up by Autobots. Macroburst recognized me and the Autobots welcomed me. Macroburst and the rest...elected to join the Autobots. I joined with them. After witnessing the destruction of Kilair at the hands of the Decepticons, we realized that the Decepticon hordes had to be stopped, lest they destroy more innocent life in their path. Maybe..." She exhaled harshly. "Maybe some of us just wanted revenge." She started muttering under her breath. "Damn Decepticons. There will never be another Kilair. Not while I'm around."

"I still don't understand," Zodiac said softly.

"This is what I told the Autobots then and this is what I tell you now. This is the truth." Her voice was cold and firm.

"Then how..." Zodiac frowned and gestured towards Stormrave's chestplate.

"I told the Autobots exactly what I told you. They made their own assumptions and I chose not to clarify." Her tone was measured; her words were cold and loaded with meaning. "It's their own bias if they want to presume that everyone who left the Wars so long ago was an Autobot."

Zodiac felt a chill. "You mean..."

"We wore no insignia, Zodiac. The forerunners of the Kilairians left Cybertron before the words "Autobot" and "Decepticon" were even invented. In time, those groups--and the Rejected--invented logos to identify themselves. We Kilairians felt no need. We saw no difference between ourselves. But inside...in the circuits... Most of us were commercial-built--part of the group who were the precursors of the Autobots. Some of us were hybrids--they had circuits like the Rejected. And a handful of us were military..."

"Decepticons," Zodiac breathed.

"Those who stayed on Cybertron eventually became the group that now calls itself Decepticons. My Kiliarian forerunners knew nothing of that. But the fact remains, they had military-Decepticon circuits."

Stormrave got to her feet, looking down at him. She crossed her arms and said defiantly, "I am a Decepticon Seeker model 2-B."

"Primus," Zodiac breathed, and then thought hard. "No, no you ain't, Stormer...ye was a Kilairian the first years of your life and an Autobot ever since the blitz, right?"

She nodded.

"Ye ain't a Decepticon...ye never were a Decepticon!"

"Circuits don't lie," she said harshly. "Why do you think I always trip off the alarms in the Autobot bases?"

"Ye never had any links with Galvatron and his crew, did ye?"

"Of course not!"

"Ye see? Ye ain't a Decepticon."

"Tell it to Cav," Stormrave muttered.

Zodiac swallowed hard. "Oh, shit. Cav," he muttered, remembering his friend's vehement hatred of anything remotely Decepticon. Remembering that Cavalier wore a plate over the lower half of her face because a Decepticon warrior, long ago, had tortured her by cutting away her jaw and sautering the wound closed, leaving damage that couldn't be erased by anything short of giving Cav a brand new head.

"Cav would hate me," Stormrave said distantly. "So would a lot of the others. And even the ones who didn't would always be watching me...always wondering. "Is she a spy?" they'd ask. "Can she be trusted? Do we really want her on guard duty? Do we really want her watching our backs?" I can't deal with it, Zodiac. I can't live day-to-day with my loyalty always in doubt."

"Damn," Zodiac muttered. "That ain't right, Stormer. You're a loyal Autobot. They should judge ye by who ye are, not by what's under your repair panels."

"I know it isn't right," she replied grimly, "but it happens. You've got to admit that."

"I admit it," he said, "but it still don't mean it's right!"

"'Right' doesn't mean a lot to me at the moment. If the Autobots kick me out I've got nowhere else to go. My home's in ruins, the Rejected won't trust me any more than the Autobots would, and I would rather die than hook up with those maurauders who destroyed Kilair."

"And nobody knows?" Zodiac whispered. "All these years and nobody knows what ye are?"

"Optimus Prime knew," Stormrave said quietly. "He was willing to give me a chance. Macroburst knew too--after all, he was the one who repaired me. Both of them are dead now..."

"No one else?"

"Kup. Optimus Prime talked it over with him. Kup doesn't care. But notice how he's never told anyone else. He knows what would happen."

Zodiac blinked. "Wait a minute. What about repairs?"

"Since Macroburst died, I've fixed myself by myself." And then she raised a hand to her visor and lifted it.

She did, indeed, have optics under the mirrored glass. Red optics...red as any Decepticon's...that glared at him coldly.

He swallowed his surprise and ignored her gesture, refusing to react to her attempt to provoke him. He would not hate her for what she was, would not draw away from her, would not abandon her to die. It wasn't right. What disturbed him the most was that Stormrave herself seemed to believe that her life was worthless.

"Frigg, Stormer...what if something big happened to ye?" Zodiac protested.

She slammed her visor down. hiding the expression in her optics. "Then I'd probably die...and if I didn't, I'd worry about it when the time came. In the meantime I concentrated on not letting something big happen to me."

"But ye were the one who ran out there. Ye were the one who took that shot from the Decepticon cannon."

"Well sure," she replied. "It was either me, or the shuttle and eveyone aboard it. Numbers dictate the good of the many over the good of the few..." She tilted her head. "I know you hate my philosophy, Zodiac, but I don't play favourites. This time, the "few" who had to sacrifice was me."

Zodiac mumbled under his breath, but he directed his attention away from his argument with the Sky Patrol commander and towards his communications link, sending out a distress call to any Autobots in range.

He had no intention of anyone sacrificing their lives, if he could do anything to prevent it.

***

The cycles ticked by. Zodiac found his mind wandering away from the long conversation he'd been having with Stormrave. There was a lot more to her than a raging sky jockey...a lot more. In exchange, he'd confessed his own fears--primarily, the worry that the other Autobots would look down on him because, no matter how good a doctor he was, the fact was that he could hardly shoot straight. He not only hated war, he was thoroughly rotten at fighting.

But now, he struggled to contain his growing fear...the fear that the Decepticons would find them. Stormrave seemed both consoled and resigned. Her smile was warm but her face still had a bleak expression. She looked comforted to have a companion by her side when she met her end. Zodiac, on the other hand, had no intent of meeting his death any time soon. He hated death. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want Stormrave to die either.

If only the Autobots found them before the Decepticons did...

"I've got something on my scanner," Stormrave whispered tersely as she powered up her laser rifle. "It's big, and it's headed this way. This might be it. Get ready."

Zodiac checked his own weapon, whispered a quick prayer to Primus, and cautiously peered out from the sheltering rocks, scanning the eastern horizon.

Then he stood up with a loud whoop, raising his arms.

"Look!" Zodiac cried. "It's the Autobots! They came back for us!" He laughed with delight as the Autobot scout vessel banked in the sky and headed directly for him, flashing its lights to tell him that it had seen him.

Stormrave stayed exactly where she was. The medic blinked. "Ain't ye comin', me girl?"

"If you're going to announce to all of Autobot City what you found in my circuits, I think I'd rather stay right here," Stormrave replied bitterly.

"Ye're kiddin', right?"

She tilted her head.

"Slag, she ain't kiddin'," Zodiac said to himself. "Come on, Stormy, I ain't gonna blab to anyone."

The red robot paused, as if deciding whether to trust him or not. "Promise?"

"Promise." He held out his hand. Slowly, she placed her hand in his and let him help her to her feet. "Come on now. We're gonna get you home, and get you fixed up."

***

Cavalier was out the door the second the shuttle touched down. "Stormrave? Zodiac?" she called. Her optics swept the horizon while her hands gripped her weapon, ready for battle in case an enemy, rather than a friend, responded.

"About time you got here," came a familiar voice. "Guppy-boy's been driving me nuts."

"Stormer?" Cav turned her head, and there was a limping Stormrave with her arm wrapped over Zodiac's shoulders.

"Glad ye came to take this useless sack of bolts off my hands," Zodiac replied, gesturing towards his wounded companion. Stormrave gave him the look of death and poked him in the midsection. "Ow! Hey! Stop that!"

"Make me," Stormrave retorted with a smirk. "Look at you. I'm half-scrap and I can still beat you up."

Ranger stuck his head out of the shuttle and grinned at Cavalier. "I think we found them just in time. How much longer you figure it'd take before they'd'a killed each other?"

"About five more minutes," Cav responded with a laugh.

***

The shuttle had just established itself on course for Cybertron when Ranger became aware that Stormrave and Zodiac had vanished from the bridge.

"Where's Stormer?" Ranger asked.

Cavalier snorted. "In the med bay, if you'd believe it, with none other than Zodiac."

"I thought they hated each other."

"I thought so too, but Stormer's bound and determined no one else but Zodiac gets to touch her circuitry."

At the controls, Frag and Rustedge broke into rude laughter. Cavalier shot them a dirty look.

Ranger looked blank. "I don't get it."

Cav rolled her eyes. "Don't ask. Those two have been watching too much late-night T.V. again."

None of them saw the two figures peering in from the back door of the bridge. The medic and the Seeker grinned at each other, and silently let the door close again.

~finis~


End file.
